2010 Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines

The 2010 Pinot Noir Summa Old Vines wraps around the palate with endless layers of dark red fruit, spices, licorice and leather. The 2010 boasts tons of depth and sheer richness, not to mention the muscle to age well in bottle for a number of years. I especially like the balance, inner perfume and texture on the finish. Incredibly, the fruit was harvested on October 20, very late by any standard. This is the first vintage that Rivers-Marie has owned Summa, but the site was purchased in September, so 2011 will be the first vintage the winery works the vineyard from the beginning of the year. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2020. This is a beautiful set of Pinot Noirs from proprietors Thomas Rivers Brown and Genevieve Marie Welsh. Brown notes that the 2010 vintage was not looking so great at a number of these sites because of the cold summer. The late September heat wave gave the vines the last kick they needed to fully ripen. Brown gave the 2010 Pinots 10 months in French oak barrels ranging from 25-80% new. As good as the vineyard designates are, the real star here is the Sonoma Coast bottling, which is one of the most fairly priced Pinot Noirs from anywhere in the world. Tel. (707) 341-3127